Iran’s ultra-hard-line "Kayhan" daily, which is said to reflect the views of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for a public referendum in Azerbaijan to decide whether the country should join the Islamic republic.

In a single day earlier this week, the Iranian parliament dealt three blows to the presidency of Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who has become a political punching bag as the result of a continuing power struggle with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The battle has heated up over Ahmadinejad’s repeated attempts to make inroads into Khamenei’s spheres of influence.